By a series of three unanimous votes, the Ann Arbor City Council agreed Monday night to resurrect the twice-defeated Heritage Row apartments proposal.

It's the latest maneuver by the council to avoid the demolition of seven houses along Fifth Avenue that stand in the way of a controversial apartment project known as City Place.

Past efforts to stop City Place included a moratorium on demolition and new construction, as well as a failed effort to create a historic district in the Germantown neighborhood.

"Certainly this whole development saga, I suspect, is going to show up in a planning text book at some point, and it will probably not reflect brightly on us," Mayor John Hieftje said of the city's four-year battle with the developers of the site at 407-437 S. Fifth Ave.

Heritage Row, an alternate proposal for the same site near downtown Ann Arbor, would preserve the seven houses and add new apartments behind them.

A look at the Heritage Row proposal that was defeated by the Ann Arbor City Council in two separate votes last year.

But it'll need eight votes to pass, and multiple council members — including Hohnke — sound doubtful about the chances of that happening.

"There is a long way to go, and I think the probability of success here is — well, let's just say it's not 100 percent," Hohnke said. "There are certainly a lot of hurdles in the way, but our thinking is let's stay on the ball field until the last out and see where we end up."

Despite voting to bring the project back for reconsideration, multiple council members expressed concerns that proposed revisions — outlined in a letter from developer Jeff Helminski on Monday — significantly reduce the project's public benefits.

• Download the letter

At least three council members who supported Heritage Row in the past said they weren't happy with some of the new changes proposed by the developer, including scaling back both the affordable housing and historic preservation requirements.

Four council members — Mike Anglin, Sabra Briere, Stephen Kunselman and Hohnke — blocked Heritage Row's approval last year, arguing the planned unit development didn't offer enough public benefit to justify a deviation from the city's zoning code. The fact that the public benefits are even less now left some confused Monday night.

"It wasn't palatable then and I'm sure then why it would be palatable to bring it back," Council Member Sandi Smith, D-1st Ward, said during a one-hour discussion.

City Place was begrudgingly approved by the City Council in September 2009, despite concerns about aesthetics and whether the project fits the character of the neighborhood. It legally conformed with city codes, so the council felt it had no choice but to approve it.

Hieftje said he appreciated Hohnke negotiating with the developer and trying to "pull this out of the fire at the end," be he expressed doubt it will work out.

"I would join others in being cautious about thinking that we're going to somehow get to the finish line on this," he said. "There's a long ways to go and I'm a little hesitant for that reason, because you're still going to require a two-thirds majority when you get to the end of this. And we've heard several council members' concerns about the public benefits."

Hohnke announced last week he was trying to negotiate a compromise with Helminski, whose team appears ready to forward on City Place. Developer Alex de Parry, who previously led the charge on Heritage Row and City Place, has handed the project over to Helminski.

"With the change of ownership, it seems to me a new game has started and we have to see who we're dealing with now," Anglin, D-5th Ward, said during Monday's meeting.

In his letter to council, Helminski said City Place "is a project we are excited to bring to market" and that process is "well on its way."

He said he's open to discussing an alternative project, but there are several hurdles, and the new ownership group and development team don't see the previous Heritage Row proposal as economically viable or financeable unless there are a number of changes.

Among the changes Helminski proposed is that 15 percent — down from 18 percent — of the units would be affordable to low-income households. And while the previous version of Heritage Row promised to meticulously renovate the seven houses following federal guidelines for historic preservation, Helminski is making less of a guarantee.

Jeff Helminski

Helminski also is proposing that the new apartment buildings remain at the maximum permitted height of 39.6 feet, and the rear setback be a consistent 10 feet rather than a varied setback ranging from 10 to 13 feet. He also wants to be able to build the project in multiple phases.

Under Helminski's proposal, the maximum number of units would be 85 instead of 82 and the maximum number of bedrooms would be 180 rather than 163. Additionally, open space would be a minimum of 30 percent of the site rather than 53 percent of the site and a previously planned plaza no longer would be required.

Helminski also is proposing the primary energy source for the building not be required to be renewable, and there would be no requirement to use stormwater for onsite irrigation.

The letter also references a new parking arrangement, which Hohnke confirmed could include the developer no longer building underground parking on site and instead paying for spaces in the city's new underground parking garage a block north on Fifth Avenue.

Hohnke said from his talks with the developer it sounds like there's a short window of opportunity for the city to reach a compromise to stop City Place.

"Given the financial constraints of the development team, there is a timeline that backs up from having rent-paying tenants in a new development," he said. "And as you back up that timeline, we are left with a situation that does not allow for a full process of submitting a new proposal and including new supplemental regulations and site plans, going through staff review and the Planning Commission, and then coming to council. That timeline is not an option."

Council Member Stephen Rapundalo, D-2nd Ward, said he remains skeptical and thinks it's going to take "a Herculean effort" to reach a compromise that quickly.

Hieftje said he appreciated the straightforwardness of the developer's letter, and he's not expecting much back and forth in negotiations.

"It seems to me that the developer is saying, 'We're going to build City Place, and we may not do it if we can get what we want out of Heritage Row,'" he said.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's e-mail newsletters.